New Hampshire prepares to make women second class citizens (again)

Jazz ShawPosted at 2:31 pm on March 7, 2018

The Judiciary Committee in the New Hampshire House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a proposal which will have sweeping consequences for the citizens of the Granite State, and particularly for women. Like too many states before them, New Hampshire will debate passing HB 1319, described by supports as “an act prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity.” More commonly referred to as the Transgender Bathroom Bill, it follows the same path taken in a number of other states and employs the same flawed, discredited “logic” in terms of treating gender and sex as two different things.

We’ve already seen the results of these misguided efforts which seek to deny medical science in favor of social justice warrior demands and political correctness run amok. It never ends well. Some of their citizens are weighing in, however, and pointing out the various flaws in the plan. One particularly interesting take on the subject comes from Kimberly Morin, writing at New Hampshire Political Buzz. She takes a far more charitable view of the entire trans discussion than I generally do but points out that such a measure will effectively reduce women to second-class citizens in terms of both privacy and personal safety and security. (Emphasis added)

For years, trans people have been using the exact same laws to fight against discrimination as every other Granite Stater. The ramifications of the law, if passed in New Hampshire, are far reaching but one of the biggest and most egregious ramifications of the “gender identity” bill is that women of New Hampshire will become second class citizens if it is passed.

How? The bill specifically allows men to enter into sex-segregated spaces that are reserved for women only. In other words, anyone who claims to be a trans woman will be allowed to use these spaces, despite the fact they are sex segregated in order to provide privacy and some semblance of safety to women.

Of course, the legislation claims trans women will have to “show their papers” to prove they are truly in transition but there is nothing in the bill that states a “trans guard” will be at every bathroom entry way, locker room door, domestic abuse shelter or rape center to inspect the papers. This means that any man claiming to be a trans woman will be granted access and if they aren’t, the place of business can be sued.

At first glance, you might wonder how this turns into a “women’s issue” rather than something affecting everyone equally. On paper, it doesn’t. We do have gender-segregated public facilities for both sexes (for good reason) and the same scenario would apply to both genders. (And by “genders” I mean the actual gender of individuals, not the SJW redefinition.)

But as I said, that’s really just “on paper” for the most part. Morin is correct to focus on the impact such a change has on women exclusively because females have historically been subjected to abuse across gender lines disproportionately to men by a massive margin. While it’s politically verboten to think such things, I’m sure, the fact is that men aren’t as likely to be as put off if a woman wanders into the men’s room. (And that would include both “transgender men” and “cisgender” women who may have simply become lost.) As long as they’re not in there shooting home videos, most guys I know probably wouldn’t be that freaked out if a lady dashed in wanting to use one of the stalls.

Why is it different when a man comes into the lady’s room? I’m not going to expend the (likely pointless) energy in trying to explain it all yet again. It’s just different. Yes, it represents a double standard, but it’s a double standard which has existed in our society since the beginning and it’s not going away any time soon.

So, yes. Morin is correct. This bill removes some of the privacy and protection which women have come to expect (and still deserve) in all public accommodations. That’s doubly true in schools where children are involved and we may be talking about locker rooms and showers as well. In my experience, the denizens of the Granite State are a somewhat unique bunch to be sure, but they’re also fairly level-headed with more common sense than we find in too many other places. Hopefully, they can turn back from this cliff before their communal car goes over it.